Bringing Attention to Minority Health Disparities in HIV/AIDS and the Need for a Vaccine
Bringing Attention to Minority Health Disparities in HIV/AIDS and the Need for a Vaccine
ATLANTA, GA, February 7, 2019 – GeoVax Labs, Inc. (OTCQB: GOVX). Today, individuals and organizations across the country will observe National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. GeoVax is commemorating the day by celebrating the progress toward the development of a vaccine against HIV, recognizing the work yet to be done, and bringing attention to the continued HIV epidemic in the United States and the disproportionate impact of the disease on African-Americans.
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), first observed in 1999, was founded as a national response to the growing HIV epidemic in African-American communities. The NBHAAD initiative encourages people to: Get Educated about HIV and AIDS; Get Involved in community prevention efforts; Get Tested to know their status; and Get Treated to receive the continuum of care needed to live with HIV/AIDS. More information about NBHAAD can be found at http://nationalblackaidsday.
David Dodd, President and CEO of GeoVax, commented, “Over the past three decades, tremendous strides have been made in HIV awareness and treatment. However, despite the availability of effective medications and the best efforts of community education and prevention programs, the tide of new HIV infections has not been reversed, and the disproportionate burden on the African-American community has not changed. African-Americans make up 43% of people living with HIV yet represent just 12% of the total population. Moreover, an estimated 15% of HIV-infected individuals in the U.S. are unaware of their infection. These statistics are simply unacceptable.”
Mr. Dodd continued, “On this National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, GeoVax encourages all African-Americans to learn the facts about HIV and get tested. The CDC recommends that every American get tested for HIV at least once, and those at high-risk get tested at least once a year. Knowing your HIV status is an important step to help keep you and your partner healthy. To find a testing site near you, visit Get Tested.”
“Getting tested and seeking treatment is a personal responsibility,” Mr. Dodd concluded. “For our part, we have a great sense of urgency to our mission of developing an effective HIV vaccine. All of us at GeoVax remember those who have succumbed to HIV/AIDS, and we re-dedicate ourselves toward the goal of an AIDS-free generation.”
About GeoVax
GeoVax Labs, Inc., is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing human vaccines against infectious diseases using its patented MVA-VLP vaccine platform. The Company has the leading preventative HIV vaccine candidate designed to fight against the subtype of HIV prevalent in the United States and is also involved in collaborative efforts to develop an immunotherapy as a functional cure for HIV. GeoVax’s HIV vaccine has undergone many years of development, encompassing basic discovery research, preclinical animal testing, and safety testing in humans, and continues to move forward in human clinical trials managed by the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) with the support of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
GeoVax was the winner of the 2018 “Best Biotech” Vaccine Industry Excellence Awards, a finalist for the 2018 “Best Prophylactic Vaccine” Award for its Zika vaccine at the World Vaccine Congress, as well as a finalist for Pipelines of Promise at Buzz of Bio 2018. In addition of HIV, the Company’s development programs include vaccines against Zika, hemorrhagic fever viruses (Ebola, Sudan, Marburg and Lassa) and malaria. GeoVax also is evaluating the use of its MVA-VLP platform in cancer immunotherapy, and for therapeutic use in chronic Hepatitis B infections and in treating Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infections. GeoVax’s vaccine platform supports in vivoproduction of non-infectious VLPs from the cells of the very person receiving the vaccine. The production of VLPs in the person being vaccinated mimics virus production in a natural infection, stimulating both the humoral and cellular arms of the immune system to recognize, prevent, and control the target infection. For more information, visit https://www.geovax.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this document are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may differ materially from those included in these statements due to a variety of factors, including whether: GeoVax can develop and manufacture its vaccines with the desired characteristics in a timely manner, GeoVax’s vaccines will be safe for human use, GeoVax’s vaccines will effectively prevent HIV or Ebola infection in humans, vaccines will receive regulatory approvals necessary to be licensed and marketed, GeoVax raises required capital to complete vaccine development, there is development of competitive products that may be more effective or easier to use than GeoVax’s products, GeoVax will be able to enter into favorable manufacturing and distribution agreements, and other factors, over which GeoVax has no control. GeoVax assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements and does not intend to do so. More information about these factors is contained in GeoVax’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those set forth at “Risk Factors” in GeoVax’s Form 10-K.
Contact:
GeoVax Labs, Inc.
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